


A Sobering Confession

by YoMo715



Series: Remembered Anew (Breath of the Wild Ficlets) [1]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Alcohol, Character Death, Drunken Confessions, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Calamity, cute but sad, mention dead character, zelink
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-07
Updated: 2017-10-07
Packaged: 2019-01-09 23:50:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12286830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YoMo715/pseuds/YoMo715
Summary: A fun night out at a Gerudo bar ends on a sour note as Link ponders the loss of his memories. Zelink, post-calamity





	A Sobering Confession

_  
_

“I should have anticipated this,” Zelda groaned. She slumped over, shoulders hunched as she stirred her glass of hydromelon juice. 

Over the past few hours the Gerudo bar grew lively, filled with the sounds of laughter and merrymaking. Zelda turned to face the room, watching her goofy hero flounce about. 

Two Gerudo vai lounging in the back thought it might be fun to teach Link a few of their traditional dances. It was painfully obvious that he had succumbed to the pleasant buzz of alcohol, having already downed two entire Noble Pursuits. And then some. So they deemed him the most gullible of the crowd and plucked him right from his seat. While Zelda _ — _ who’d had a few drinks herself _ — _ was immune to their charms, Link allowed them to whisk him to the middle of the room without a second thought. Never with a sober mind would he, dressed as a vai or otherwise, attempt any kind of dance in general, let alone a  _ Gerudo _ one. 

But he was doing so now, and Zelda could see the wrinkles of a bright smile shine from his eyes. He must have been grinning from ear to ear underneath the opaque face veil. 

_ At least he’s having fun _ , Zelda reminded herself. Her gaze softened, and a smile graced her own face as she basked in his happiness. 

In truth, it was a comedic scene. Link stood between the two Gerudo, who both  _ towered  _ over the tiny Hylian “vai”, copying their steps verbatim. Or at least he tried to. It was clear the alcohol was beginning to affect him, as each swing of the hip and rhythmic step became more and more sluggish. The fact that there was no music in the room didn’t help his tempo. He fell flat on his butt more times than he’d clear-headedly care to admit, but each time his laughs grew louder. 

Laughter from Link was rare, and whenever Zelda heard his breathy voice chuckle it caught her off guard. Thus, her smile grew, looking almost as cheery as the gleeful boy trying to spin in circles a few feet away from her. 

Link must have spotted her smiling, for his whirl stopped dead in its tracks. His eyes met hers for a moment, and she could have melted from the sweet, almost sickening amount of affection he displayed. 

“What?” Zelda scoffed, feeling a tad bit uncomfortable from his puppy-dog eyes. Link whispered something, but the sound didn't reach Zelda’s ears. “Hm?” Her head cocked to one side and she crossed her arms. 

The intoxicated Hylian crossed the room, not quite in a straight line, and plopped down on the stool next to Zelda’s. He propped his head up with one arm, elbow leaning against the table. She could still see the hints of a smile lighting up his eyes as he spoke. 

“Are you a goddess, because I could swear you’re glowing right now.” 

Zelda fought back a cringe but failed to suppress a loud snort. If she was sipping her drink, she would have spewed it all over her hero. It was one of, if not  _ the worst  _ pickup lines she’d ever heard.

For whatever reason, though, when it came from Link it felt oddly flattering. Doubly so from his love struck gaze. Her heart made a familiar  _ thump  _ as a chill rushed through her. Something she felt quite often those days, since the two officially became a pair. 

To clear her head, Zelda lifted her glass of hydromelon juice to her lips and looked away for a moment. The drink was refreshing, to say the least, but in spite of her efforts she could feel her cheeks heating to a bright pink color. 

“Is that so?” The princess mused after a little while, not wanting to keep her hero waiting. “Am I bright?”

“Blinding.”

**_Thump._ **

Zelda snickered, rolling her eyes at Link, who now fully leaned his head onto the table. “Stop staring,” she pouted, almost annoyed by how adorable he was. 

“Why?” Link flat out whined. “You’re the girl of my _ — _ ” he hiccuped, speech a little slurred “ _ — _ dreams, so I can gawk a little, right? Please?” Zelda could swear his eyes grew two or three sizes larger, despite how dilated his pupils already were from drinking. 

“Oh, goddess, give me strength,” the princess muttered under her breath and pinched the bridge of her nose. Her cheeks felt molten, like a fire chu chu set them ablaze. She was sure her face was red as a cherry. Despite her embarrassment, however, when she stole a glance from Link she couldn’t help but laugh. The boy looked far too pleased with himself for his own good. 

She turned back to face him, unable to hide from that cute, innocent expression his eyes reflected. “You flatter me too much, my silly hero,” Zelda teased with a smile. He giggled like a child.

Her hand lifted to Link’s head to tuck a loose strand of hair behind his ear. In response, he leaned a little closer and closed his eyes, breathing a sigh of contentment.

Another small smile grew from within Zelda. She savored these little moments of peace, as they’d grown far and few in between lately. It had been hard to spend some quality time with her hero after the rebuilding of the kingdom began, so even though she was normally opposed to a night out drinking, she accepted it as a date when Link offered. 

It had been worth it so far. 

The princess's gaze softened, amused as the hair strand she tried to tuck kept falling back out of Link’s ear, refusing to be placed. It must have been a cowlick. She didn't mind, however. It just gave her an excuse to study his features more. 

After learning her hair-tucking attempts were futile, Zelda trailed her fingers from his temple to his jawline. Link’s skin was warm and surprisingly rough. Not quite like sandpaper, but weathered, littered with tiny scars invisible to the naked eye. From his countless number of reckless adventures, no doubt. She liked to imagine some of their stories. Many of them she’d heard from her hero, but others were sealed shut through tight lips. 

Once Zelda had enough of teasing his skin, she caressed his cheek with her thumb, cupping it in her palm. Link hummed, relaxed by her touch. It looked like he would fall asleep. 

“I think my mom used to do that,” he muttered out of the blue. 

This snapped the princess back to reality. Zelda blinked, unsure if she heard him correctly. “Your mother?” She probed, curiosity spilling forth as her logical mind overruled her emotions. Link nodded, so she continued. “You remember her?” 

Link was quiet for a while. His eyes opened and his brow furrowed, and she could see him searching through the many blank spaces of memories that were still lost to him. 

“No,” he answered. “Everything’s a blur.” Zelda’s shoulders sagged, but Link hadn't finished his thought. “I can hear a _ — _ a woman singing a song, though. She's brushing my hair. She’s very gentle, and I _ — _ ” His voice died in his throat, and he squeezed his eyes shut. 

Zelda only noticed now that he was shaking. 

“Hey.” Link’s sudden change in demeanor alarmed the princess. “What's the matter?” Her tones were soft, subtle and gentle. She leaned closer to her hero, placing a tender hand on his back. 

Link flinched. He shrugged her hand off of him, acting rather childish as he buried his face into his arms. Zelda smiled at first, finding it amusing, but it fell when she heard him sniffling. 

A few of the Gerudo turned their heads. They were curious of the situation, but Zelda signaled to leave them be. 

“Link,” The princess cooed in a quiet voice, dipping her head down to meet his face. “What's this about?” With his consent, she rubbed his back in slow circles. 

Link’s first words were inaudible. They were lost amongst the sleeves and sniffles, so Zelda asked him again. 

“Why am I so broken?” he babbled, and his face met hers. When he turned his head, she saw his eyes were reddened and his cheeks stained with tear tracks, and her heart gave a painful throb. 

It was the alcohol that heightened Link’s emotional state. The normally kind, yet guarded (and surprisingly witty) hero was reduced to a blubbering mess in mere minutes, thanks to strong drink. To anyone else who knew him, it would be a scene worthy for the history books. 

But Zelda, who knew him better than anyone else, couldn't hide her frown. A familiar ache stirred in her chest. A drowning sensation of guilt followed. His brokenness was caused by his fragmented mind _ — _ a fragmented mind from the hundred-year sleep  _ she _ put him in. 

“You're not broken,” she whispered in assurance for them both. 

“But I am,” Link protested. “I want to mourn them, so badly.” His voice trailed off in a whimper, and he sucked in a breath as he sat up a little to face Zelda. “But I can't even do that. I can't remember them,” he shook his head. “My parents, my friends, the old kingdom. It’s all a black void.” 

_ So that’s why he’s upset,  _ Zelda surmised. Her heart ached for her hero. “That's not your fault,” she tried to excuse in a murmur. Her voice was shaking as well, she realized, but ignored it. “And, you know, you  _ are _ mourning them. Just by the fact that you wish to remember them, you are mourning them.” She was rambling now, but words just kept flowing from her mouth. “I am so sorry that you were forced into this without a choice, that your memories were taken from you. And if there was anything at all I could have done differently, I would…I would have…”

She stopped, seeing that her words appeared to have the opposite effect of consolation. Link’s head hung low and he shuddered. His hands were pressed to his cheeks, teeth clenched to keep himself quiet, and still she could see tears rolling off his palms. 

The back of Zelda’s throat burned. A sting of tears glazed and her own eyes over, but she willed them away with a long exhale. She stopped rubbing his back. 

“Mipha…” She heard Link mumble. “Mipha was my friend, right?” 

Zelda just nodded, even though Link wasn’t looking at her. Every word died in her throat. 

“And Urbosa?” He asked like she had answered. 

“O-of course.”

“And Daruk.”

“Daruk, too.” 

“And Revali. Even though he seemed like an ass.”

Zelda laughed once. “Even Revali.” 

“Then why do they feel so far away?” Link hissed. Zelda didn’t speak, waiting for him to finish. “The few memories I have of them, they don’t feel real. It feels like they’re still strangers to me. It’s so wrong.” He hiccuped again. Then, he did something odd. 

Link straightened his posture with a slow unsteady breath. He opened his eyes, gaze fixed on the pale moon gleaming through the open window. The miserable expression on his face flattened, his eyes taking on a familiar, chilling emptiness _. _

It was something Zelda hadn’t seen in him in over a century. 

Her heart broke.

“When I first went to Zora’s Domain,” Link’s voice lost its tremor, and instead it sounded hollow. “Many of the Zoras recognized me. They were very excited at first _ — _ one of them even called me by a nickname. It was really hard to be there when they realized I’d forgotten them. I felt so  _ heavy _ , and I wanted to cry and scream ‘I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. Believe me, I’m trying to remember!’.” Link swallowed hard, then paused. His drunken mind struggled to catch up with his thoughts. 

“Then I remembered Mipha. A single memory of her,  _ just her _ , on top of Vah Ruta. I was grateful that I finally recalled at least one thing, but it wasn’t enough. She and everyone else...even though I was told time and time again ‘we used to play in the river’, ‘you’re our friend’, ‘she  _ loved  _ you’, they were all  _ blank spaces  _ in my mind.” He closed his eyes. “They still are.” 

Zelda’s composure cracked. The forlorn look in Link’s eyes after his long speech snapped the last string, and everything erupted forth like a dam bursting from within. 

Her guilt. Her anger.  _ His anger _ . Their grief. 

It all flowed in streams of tears from her eyes, and she was powerless to stop it. 

Zelda was quiet at first, muffling her sniffles by burying her face into the sleeve of Link’s arm band. He didn’t stop her or push her away, sitting motionless as she gripped the loose fabric of his shirt so taught it might tear, rambling apologies and murmuring pointless things about his memories. 

How she wished there was something she could do to help. How she couldn’t fathom the pain of waking with nothing more than a name and a voice for guidance. How selfish she was for thinking he would be fine with this. 

Pointless things. 

Her cries grew louder.

“Don’t cry,” Link’s voice was soft. Zelda felt him shift, one hand curling around her back and pulling her close, the other cradling the top of her head in the nook of his arm. He held her a little too tightly, as he always did. The side of her face smushed into his chest and his cheek nestled into her hair, ruining her braid. “Please don’t cry, Zelda.” 

_ “You  _ don’t cry, you big baby,” Zelda mocked. The retort was both childish and utterly ridiculous, but she couldn’t help herself. She could still feel his hot tears drip onto her forehead and into her hair. “This is  _ your  _ fault!” 

Perhaps drink had finally taken to her as well. 

***

The next morning Link’s eyes were still red, but this time from the relentless throb of a hangover. 

He groaned, rising as a redead would from his bed: hair disheveled, face veil down under his chin (he’d forgotten to take it off), cheeks puffy, eyes burning. 

“What the  _ hell  _ happened last night,” he grumbled in annoyance. 

Zelda, who was already preparing an unappetizing hangover cure, laughed. Link flinched at the sound. “You tell me,” she whispered, handing the drink to him. 

Outwardly, she was calm. Inwardly, her heart raced.

The hero made a face at the glass, but downed the elixir in one gulp. He couldn’t help but gag, though. “I don’t know,” he flailed his arm in a lazy gesture. “Some of the women dragged me to the middle of the bar. I think.”

Zelda raised an eyebrow. “That’s all you remember?” She asked with care, but slight hints of relief traced her brow. 

Link shrugged. “More or less.” 

“Really?”

Link shot her a defensive look. “I wasn’t  _ that _ drunk.” 

The princess snorted. The pure relief bubbled up through her chest in laughter. It left her hero stupefied, but she was silently thanking the sisters for saving her from an awkward conversation this morning. She fretted all night over what turned out to be nothing at all. 

Instead of leaving Link completely clueless, she egged, “You started flirting with me.” That much was true.

Link’s confusion only worsened, however. “That’s not weird,” he pointed a finger. “We’re together!”

Zelda’s smile spread into a mischievous grin.  _ This is payback for making me cry _ , she thought as she fibbed, “You inquired me if I was single. When I claimed I wasn’t, you started  _ bawling  _ like a  _ child. _ ”

The raw, unrefined horror casted on Link’s face made the whole night worth it. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Feedback is always appreciated!


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